With Great Power: LowKey
by Writrzblok
Summary: After angering Mephisto, SpiderMan seeks help from an unlikely source.


With Great Power: Low-Key

All the characters featured are copyrighted by Marvel Entertainment. Inc.

The Amazing Spider-Man wasn't exactly feeling very amazing. He had incurred the wrath of the dark lord of Hell himself, Mephisto. He had offered Peter Parker the chance to save the life of his beloved Aunt May from injuries sustained from a sniper's bullet meant for him. The price, unlike most Faustian transactions, was that Peter and Mary Jane would give up their marriage and their entire history; an impossible choice, to be sure. With a helpful and heartfelt perspective from May, Peter declined the deal with the devil.

"You are in the crosshairs of hell," the demon lord said before vanishing. As much as Peter is glad he didn't flush his marriage down the toilet, there was the ire of a pissed-off Mephisto to contend with.

Several days after the funeral, Peter kept running the last moments of his meeting with Mephisto over and over in his mind. No solution he could come up with seemed adequate to deal with the impending threat. No doubt that crimson-covered creep is waiting for the right time. Peter couldn't wait. He had to prepare for hell. Literally.

MJ was still asleep and the sun wouldn't rise for another hour. Leaving a note as well as a kiss on her cheek, he ran toward the dresser to throw on his costume. Pulling out his booties, a small object fell out and hit the floor. It seemed like a tuning fork made by an acid junkie. However, Peter's eyes lit up, recognizing the item as the rune the trickster god Loki had given him as a reward for helping him save his daughter [one of many, Peter assumed from the ancient being called Morwen.

Peter went into the living room and said, "Okay Loki…calling in your chit." Using force of will, he tried to summon the asgardian. All he succeeded in doing was nearly dropping a deuce on the couch. However, he knew just the person to ask about why Loki didn't respond.

* * *

"WHAT?" Peter exclaimed, nearly falling off of the wall he sat on. Doctor Stephen Strange informed him of Asgard's fall and the dormancy of the gods therein. "Strange, you have to be kidding me," he said. 

The Sorcerer Supreme replied, "I never kid. You know this. You've made it a point of much annoyance for me every time you bring it up. "

"Thor, Loki, Odin, all them are dead?" Peter inquired, sitting on the wall of Stephen's living room.

"Thor, no. But he is far too concerned with the reestablishment of Asgard and reawakening of his fellow gods to aid you, Peter," he said, "And do please get off of my wall. I just washed them all yesterday."

Peter leapt off of the wall, landing in front of the world's most powerful magic user. He held out the stoner-style marker for Doctor Strange to see before saying, "Loki gave me this when I helped him out. Now I need him to help me out."

"Peter," Stephen said, "I must express my concern for you. Why do you seek the Norse god of trickery?"

Peter's eyes hit the floor instantly upon hearing that tidbit of info. Doctor Strange wouldn't have to ask if it was true. All he asked was for the reason, any reason at all, that out of all the people in the world, he wanted to fillet the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. He stared through narrowed eyes at the sorcerer and said, "I have my reasons, Doc, okay? Just like you had your reasons for not saving my Aunt May."

"Peter---"

"Just do it, alright?" Peter hated using such a harsh tone of voice. However, for what needed to be done, he couldn't waste time tap dancing around the pleasantry minefield.

Doctor Strange, sensing the urgency in his friend's voice, held out his hand and said, "Give me one end of the marker." After Peter complied, he said, "Bring forth he that tricks and lies; Loki, from your slumber, arise!" With an incandescent flash of golden light, Peter held his eyes shut. Wind swirled around him and rapid popping noises filled the air so noisily that he almost tried to cover his ears. Doctor Strange shouted, "NO! Do not let go of the marker!"

Within minutes, the cacophony died down until silence reigned once more. Opening his eyes, the web-slinger looked to see a beautiful young woman standing before him and the good doctor. Peter went to grab Strange by the collar and shake him violently until he explained why they just summoned a centerfold model instead of the Norse god of trickery.

"Who dares summon Loki?!" belted out the woman in a loud, manly voice. The woman reached out and with a wave of her hand, sent Doctor Strange flying across the room, crashing into the wall. Peter ducked and swerved, avoiding her clutches for his throat.

Strange shouted out a word, "Immobilae!!!" The trickster god froze in place with her hand almost around Peter's neck.

"What is this?! Strange! Why have you brought me here?" the voice of Loki seemed more feminine than before.

"Hi, uh, remember me?" Peter said, easing his way out of reaching distance.

"No, should I?"

"You gave me this," Peter replied, holding up the very marker Loki had given him a year or so back. "We shared hot dogs, old stories, you couldn't keep your eyes off the ladies, and I helped you save your daughter from a chaos god…"

"Ah, I remember now, Spider-Man. Clearly you have caught me in an awkward position."

"Said the adulterous contortionist but that's not the point. I'm here to cash in my favor," he said, staring down the pretty face of the trickster god. Peter apprised Loki of his situation, sprinkled with Doctor Strange shouting "You what?" every thirty seconds.

"Peter, why did you say nothing of this beforehand? I would've gladly protected you from Mephisto's power!"

"I took a chance coming here hoping you could help me. I didn't know if you could do it or not. You have your rules and what not. I couldn't take the chance that Mary Jane got hurt by Mephisto because you had your hands bound by some kind of cosmic loophole. I figured the less you knew the better."

Strange's voice went up an octave and his hands stretched out as he said, "How can you trust Loki, a being known for his penchant for deceit and manipulation, to help you and Mary Jane over a friend?"

"No offense, doc," Peter said, "But I figure a god would be able to help out better than a sorcerer. Plus, who better to combat a prince of lies with a god of trickery?"

Strange shook his head and turned his back from the scene. With an exasperated sigh, he said, "Fine. Do as you wish. But if Loki tricks you---"

"I know, you can do the 'I told you so' dance I taught you," Peter whispered, "you better have been practicing, if that's the case." With a wave of his wrist, Strange's spell to immobilize Loki had faded, allowing her to move.

Straightening her black blouse and black miniskirt, Loki said, "Very well, Spider-Man. I will honor my pact with you. My power is limited in this body until I have been fully awakened. I cannot combat Mephisto proper. However, there is a ritual I can perform that will be able to shield you from any demonic assault."

"The spell isn't for me," Peter said, "It's for my wife, Mary Jane." The look in his eyes let Thor's sibling know that the issue was non-negotiable.

"Of course it is, how silly of me to think that you would rather protect yourself above a loved one. Here I thought you were human," she said with a sneer.

Tilting his head to the side, the young man said, "Loki, when you found out you were a woman, did you look in the mirror and want to impregnate yourself?"

* * *

Mary Jane slept motionless on the bed, taking in deep appreciative breaths with a smile on her face. In her mind, she took bows before a crowd of thousands after nailing the lead in Jane Eyre. Among the patrons was her husband, Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, Thing, Hulk, Captain America, Tony Stark, Robbie Robertson, and Galactus, who sat in the nose bleeds while the Blob, covered in chocolate and laying on a couch with a wreath on his head, occupied the balcony. 

However, a portly man with a spiked blond hairdo sat in the front row to her far right. It didn't take an expert at body language to tell he didn't approve of either the performance or of her in general. His lips moved, as if to say, "Should've taken the deal." MJ knew exactly what he meant. "You ruined it! You ruined my hero!!!!!" he shouted, frothing at the mouth. Within an instant, he took on a more infantile appearance, shrinking several feet and many pounds as well as de-aging. A crying baby wailed on while the audience clapped and clamored for more. The child seemed to bawl in such as manner to lead her to believe he wanted the applause to stop.

MJ opened her eyes to end the dream abruptly. Weird, she thought to herself, that man seemed familiar. Dismissing the thought, she sat up in bed to stretch and let out a yawn. Her sports bra covered bosom and finely sculpted torso were magnificently displayed by the sunlight through the bedroom window. The yawn slowed to a halt as well as her stretching.

Suddenly, in a flash, Peter and the currently female Loki materialized in the bedroom, standing beside the bed. "We must be quick," she said, pulling out a dagger.

"Whoa, hey!" he exclaimed before being held off by Loki's arm. She opened MJ's hand and ran the blade across her palm. "Was that necessary? What if she…"

Clasping her hand in Mary Jane's hand, the trickster god concentrated, letting both hands glow for a few seconds. When she removed her hand, no scar or trace of blood on the bed sheet was left behind. "You think this is the first manipulation I've tried? You should've seen what I did to Michael Jackson."

"So he WAS innocent," Peter muttered to himself.

Turning her head back to face Peter, she replied, "Actually, no. He was guilty as what you call sin. All I did was dangle his child off the balcony in his guise. The man looks so frail it's amazing he can carry his own body weight let alone a toddler."

Shaking his head, Peter commented, "You really need a hobby."

"Have we met? Loki, god of mischief." She said, extending her hand to Peter in faux introduction.

"Can we just go? MJ will think I'm trying to spice up our sex life if she finds you here," Peter said right before they vanished into the ether. Time restarted and MJ finished her yawn, to her knowledge, uninterrupted.

* * *

Peter and Loki return from nothingness to arrive in a dimly lit warehouse near the docks. He could hear a trash scow honking its horn in the distance as well as the ringing bells on top of the buoys along the Hudson. The walls maintained a gray and weathered appearance even in the morning light. 

Loki said, placing the knife on the floor, "Alright, I need something to write with, and…" she paused, looking directly at Peter and spoke through gritted teeth, "Absolute. Silence."

Nodding in agreement, Peter stood back and cased his surroundings. Looking at an elevated office over an assembly line, he figured that might be the place to find a marker or pencil. Then an idea struck him. "I have something that might work." Concentrating, he spun a thin strand of webbing. Maneuvering his wrists, he made the web form the words, "Ass Guardian"

"Cute. But do you know the diagram of the symbols that need to be written?"

"Tell you what," Peter said, "I'll hold out my wrist and fire my webbing. You can guide my arm and tell me to stop when it's done."

"Hmmm. Interesting idea. Brilliant, really," Loki replied, showing a hint of a smile, "Very well. Let us begin."

Loki held Peter's wrist while he concentrated the webbing into one fine strand, allowing the asgardian to draw rune shapes along the floor in a circle surrounding the knife.

Within seconds, the sky became dark and the heavens roared above. Both knew time was short and that they were about to have company. "There, it is finished," Loki said.

Suddenly the wall far in front of them exploded, sending debris flying. Stepping through the newly made front door of the warehouse was a large, muscular man with long golden hair. A helmet with wings adorned his head while his sky blue eyes stared holes at the men in front of him. In his right hand, a menacing hammer named Mjolnir hung taut from his grip but swung by his loose wrist. Chain-mail covered his body except for the torso which was clad in a black tunic. A red cape flailed and flowed behind him, showing regality bordering on the pompous.

"Greetings," said Thor, the god of thunder, "Thinkest thou couldst hide thyself from me?"

Peter stood up and looked at Loki, who seemed to be not only surprised, but mystified at the arrival of his hated sibling. He should've figured that Thor would somehow find out that Peter revived him. Perhaps Strange had told him everything and was trying to prevent Loki from performing a scam.

It didn't matter; goldilocks was standing in the way of him protecting his wife from Mephisto. He could handle whatever was thrown his way, but as long as he can't hurt MJ, nothing else matters. Of course, she'd make the same deal for him and that was what he loved about their marriage; their equal willingness to lay down one another's life for their beloved. He wasn't going to allow Thor to stop him, regardless of how big and powerful and big and strong and big and tough and did he forget to mention he's big?

"Finish the ritual, I'll hold him off," Peter said while crouching, preparing himself for battle.

Loki arched a brow and said, "If you say so." With her arms outstretched and muttering a language that was beyond foreign, the ritual began. Peter leapt backward and fired two web-lines at Thor's pectorals. The thunder god held up his arm and let the strands attach to his arm. With a yank, he pulled Peter forward quickly. He held up his hammer, letting the young hero collide violently with the weapon. The force sent him hurtling back toward Loki.

Peter shot webs at Thor; letting the recoil stop his body in mid-air just inches from the rune circle. Then he pulled himself back, adding to his forward momentum. Raising his feet, he drove a powerful kick into the chest of Thor. The warrior skidded slightly and held his chest but mainly stood his ground. He ducked underneath a swing of the hammer and connected with a right cross. Dodging another swipe, Peter drove a hard left uppercut into the chiseled jaw of his opponent.

While Loki chanted, he began to smell a familiar odor, causing her to pause for a moment. Though it was faint and Spider-Man seemed too distracted to notice, she smiled, knowing now what the stench was. Regardless, she continued chanting. The web writing began to glow around the blood-stained blade.

Peter thought his jaw would disconnect when Thor planted his knuckles into the wall-crawler's face. The force propelled him backwards. On instinct, he let the gigantic stingers in his wrist come out. He lowered them to the ground, hoping they would slow his momentum down. They succeeded, though not without a searing pain shooting up his arms. He spit out blood as well as a broken tooth and charged forward.

Loki grabbed the knife in the circle and wiped the blood off of the blade. Quickly running, she scraped the blade along the ground, scooping up some of Peter's blood that he spit. Returning to the circle, she chanted.

Peter flipped over Thor's head and pushed down his helmet, blinding him. "I understand you want to bring your brothers out of their big hibernation, Yogi. I re-hee-heally do. But you gotta trust me on this. Your brother owes me a favor and Asgard or no Asgard, I'm collecting!"

"SILENCE!!!!" bellowed the warrior son of Odin, sending a concussive wave of energy throughout the warehouse, knocking both Peter and Loki down. Clutching at Peter's throat, he lifted up his fallen foe and smiled a wicked smile before raising the hammer to take off Peter's head.

As Thor's blow connected, nothing happened. The weapon bounced off of the web-slinger's head. He tried again and again but nothing worked. Chucking Peter aside, he looked toward Loki and let out a sly knowing grin. "Well played, brother."

"You and I are similar in many ways," Loki said, getting to her feet, "But by blood, we are nothing."

Peter sat up and looked over at Loki. "What did you do?" he shouted, crawling toward the trickster god, "What did YOU DO!!?!?!?"

"I cleaned Mary Jane's blood from the blade and added yours instead."

"YOU WHAT?!!!!"

"You were in the process of being killed. This world requires your continued existence, Spider-Man. I simply weighed your life against a mere mortal that does not contribute anything outside of mortal parameters and decided accordingly. The world needs you a lot more than it needs her."

"But** I** need her! I did this for her! I brought you back to protect her, not me!"

"Look at it this way, mortal. You are protected from demonic assault. Mephisto's forces cannot touch you. Literally."

"Damn you Loki! You tricked me!"

"You tricked yourself into thinking that I was your lapdog. My debt to you is paid. Our business is finished. When next we meet, we shall be enemies, or at the very least, not friendly."

"NO!" Peter screamed, lunging at the trickster god, only to receive a punch in the gut. With the injuries from the fight, he doubled over and tried to catch his breath. While he tried hard to breathe, he could hear Thor echoing out boisterous laughter from the far end of the room.

However, something inside Peter's mind clicked. Mjolnir bounced off of Peter's skull with no effect on him whatsoever. It was after Loki had finished the spell. It could only mean one thing. The hammer wasn't Mjolnir at all. And the man laughing across the room was not Thor. Suddenly he began to cough at the smell of brimstone. He recognized as the smell that surrounded "Thor" during the fight.

The thunder god's armor and stature began to change. He became taller and considerably more crimson. Mephisto stood before Peter Parker and said, "Once you saw the rune in your drawer, I knew you would call on Loki to help you against me. So I simply waited until you made your move. As I told you boy, this is not over. The pain you'll feel when I kill Mary Jane Watson-Parker will be excruciating. I can't wait to get started." With haughty laugher and a cloud of red smoke, he vanished into nothingness.

Peter lowered his head and tried to rush home, hoping that Mephisto didn't already make good on his threat.

* * *

Peter burst into the room, not caring if cops, cape-killers or Tony freaking Stark himself tracked him down. "Mary Jane?!" he screamed out, "MJ!!!!" 

"What?" said his wife from inside the kitchen, "What's wrong? Do we have to leave again?" Peter took in heavy breaths and closed the door. Sitting down on the couch, he grunted. "Tiger, who did this to you?"

"Oh, you should see the other guy," he quipped.

"Peter, Doctor Strange was here earlier. He told me what you did."

"Well, he was right. Loki double-crossed me and instead of casting a protection spell on you, he put it on me."

Mary Jane let out a half-smile and leaned on her side to the back of the couch. She said, "Strange figured Loki might pull a fast one, what with his reputation and all. So he cast a few spells of his own. Around me, our home, even our bathroom for some reason. I think he did some extra chanting in there."

"So, we're good?" Peter said in a relieved tone.

MJ kissed Peter on his bruised cheek and replied, "You and me? Solid, Tiger. But you owe somebody an apology and an audience for something called the 'I told you so' dance, whatever that means."

"I'm so never going to hear the end of this," Peter said ruefully.

His wife slyly whispered into his ear, "Hey, maybe next time you get into some magic trouble, you'll consult the guy called 'Sorcerer Supreme, huh?"

Peter nodded, and then nodded off. His apology to Strange can wait a nap.

End.


End file.
